Crush
by RadiantBeam
Summary: In which a girl who doesn't understand love falls for a girl who does. Oh, the irony. ::Post StrikerS, Nove x Ginga:: ::One-shot::


**Disclaimer: **I do not own MGLN or its characters. I just believe that even minor characters with little screentime deserve love, too.

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**Crush**

"_Do you ever think, when you're all alone?  
__All that we could be, where this thing could go  
__Am I crazy or falling in love  
__Is it real or just another crush  
__Do you catch your breath when I look at you  
__Are you holding back like the way you do  
_'_Cause I've tried and tried to walk away  
__But I know this crush ain't going away."_

-David Archuleta

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It was a very beautiful day, truly. The sky was a clear, pristine blue; the clouds were white and fluffy. The soft trill of bird song wasn't too loud to be annoying, and the breeze was warm and gentle.

It was a beautiful day, but Nove was too preoccupied by her thoughts to pay much attention to it as she sat on the grassy hill, glaring into thin air as if some invisible being had wronged her. Why had things gotten so complicated? She wasn't _good _with emotions. She much preferred fighting to talking. So why were her feelings running rampant the way they were now?

Maybe she could ask Ginga about it. Ginga was good at that kind of stuff; she was good with emotions. Nove could talk to her about them and not feel embarrassed or awkward.

… _And kiss her, and touch her, and—_

Nove blinked, her cheeks flushing pink; with a miserable groan she dropped her forehead to her knees with a soft clunk, cursing quietly under her breath. "When did I become such a pervert?" she murmured.

Okay. Talking to Ginga was out of the question. In her current state, being around Ginga at all would be like throwing a lighted match into a puddle of gasoline. And it was slowly driving her insane.

Nove scowled as she searched her memory, trying to recall the exact moment her feelings for the purple-haired girl had shifted from friendly to… well, it felt like _love_.

Crap.

She was _screwed._

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Nove snorted loudly, half-tempted to tear the book she was reading in half and be done with it; but her loud sound of disgust had attracted Ginga's attention, and the older girl sat next to her. "What's wrong, Nove?"

"This story is stupid." The redhead frowned, narrowing her golden eyes as she set it down, having stomached as much as she could. "I don't understand Juliet at all. Why kill herself just because Romeo was an idiot? It's not like she couldn't find another guy to be with."

It took a few moments for Ginga to piece together what Nove was saying; her eyes gleamed briefly and she leaned back, bracing her hands behind her and looking at Nove. "She was in love with him."

"That's just the point!" Nove's irritation seemed to increase, and she looked at Ginga fiercely. "She's only known him for… what, two days, and she just marries him and kills herself because of him? That doesn't make any sense!"

"Well, don't you think love is like that?"

That stopped Nove's rant right in its tracks. The red-haired Number frowned, confusion clouding the golden depths of her eyes as she tried to process her companion's question. Realizing she didn't understand, Ginga smiled slightly.

"The whole idea is that love is, in a way, kind of stupid. You can't control it; you never know when it's going to happen. And when you fall in love, it kind of takes over, you know?" Ginga closed her eyes and fell back, resting her hands behind her head. "Sometimes you don't want it, but you can't live without it, and it happens." She opened her eyes and laughed softly. "At least, that's how Mom always used to explain it when Subaru and I asked why she married Dad when we were kids."

Nove scowled and looked at the grass, her fingers curling into fists even as a strange feeling stretched its wings and beat timidly against her ribs. "Y'know, the way you see it, it's almost like you believe anyone can fall in love," she mumbled.

"Anyone _can _fall in love," Ginga shot back gently, tilting her head to look up at Nove. "It's only a matter of_ how _and _when_." She smiled slightly. "You and I are no exception, Nove."

After a few minutes Nove met Ginga's gaze, despite—or perhaps because of—the wild thumping of her heart. "Are you in love with someone, Ginga?"

Ginga laughed and looked away, closing her eyes again. "Nove, that's for me to know and you to find out."

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Yeah.

Yeah, that was probably the moment Nove developed feelings for Ginga.

And not so soon after that, she'd figured out that said feelings were love.

And she couldn't turn them off.

_DAMMIT!_

"_That's for me to know and you to find out."_

Nove scowled. "Gee, thanks for dangling that in front of me, Ginga," she muttered. "No, really, thanks a _lot_."

"You're welcome."

For a moment the red-haired Number froze dumbly before slowly looking over her shoulder. "… When did you get here?" she asked weakly as Ginga smiled cheerfully at her, easily sitting next to her and resting her hands back behind her. "I didn't hear you come up or anything."

"Oh, I've been here." Ginga shrugged. "I was looking for you, actually, but you weren't in any of your normal hang-outs."

"Um… I've just been… thinking…"

They sat in silence for a few minutes; after awhile, Nove gathered up her flimsy courage (when had she become this uncertain of herself? Maybe a quick spar with Subaru in the future would help) and spoke, her voice soft. "Hey, Ginga… is love supposed to be this complicated? I can't… turn the feelings off."

"You aren't supposed to. Love doesn't work that way."

"Lovely…"

Ginga laughed and brushed a loose strand of hair out of her eyes, and Nove felt her heart flip-flop.

"Nove, if you feel this way now, then it probably means you really love the person."

"Yeah… I do love her…"

"Her?"

Nove yelped and turned bright red as she realized what she'd let slip; her guard always seemed to drop whenever she was with Ginga. But the older woman was looking at her curiously, and it was too late to take the words back.

"Um… yeah… I love her," she murmured. "We kind of have different opinions on what love _is_, exactly, but when we were talking about it I kind of… fell in love with her then. And… I'm very bad at this kind of thing. And I didn't mean to tell her, but I kind of did, so—"

Nove's babbling was cut short as Ginga leaned in and gently touched their lips together. The red-haired girl's eyes widened in shock, but she made no move to pull away or push Ginga away, and after a minute or two her eyes closed and she cautiously leaned in, but she didn't push the kiss any further than a chaste brush of skin.

But she was responding, and that was better than nothing at all.

After a few minutes, Ginga pulled away. "Figure it out yet?" she whispered.

"Uh." Nove's brain had short-circuited. "Maybe. I'm still not totally sure. We should… try again. The kiss. Just to see if I've totally figured out. That's probably a good idea."

Ginga smirked. "Best idea I've heard all day."

So Ginga kissed Nove again.

After a few seconds, Nove decided that she liked the sensation just fine; especially when she opened her mouth to deepen the kiss at Ginga's request.

"_That's for me to know and you to find out."_

After a few minutes, Nove found out.

Suddenly, she wasn't so eager to turn her new emotions off. She actually kind of liked having them. Who knew? Maybe she could live with them for the rest of her life.

**The End**

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A crack pairing, I know, but I like it. I wrote this one-shot over a span of several days, so... I don't even know what my original intent for it was. Ah, well.

Read and review, please!


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